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Portland has become something of a base for up-and-coming alternative-rock bands, which perform in clubs scattered throughout the city. Good jazz groups perform nightly in a handful of bars as well.
Portland’s most diverting neighborhoods for bar-hopping are, not surprisingly, its favored dining districts, too—the West End, Pearl District, and Nob Hill on the west side of the Willamette River, within walking distance (or a streetcar ride) of downtown hotels; Alberta Street, North Mississippi Avenue, East Burnside Street in the 20s, the Central East Side, Belmont Street, Hawthorne Boulevard, and Division Street on the East Side. Note that many of the restaurants listed in Where to Eat also double as highly popular nightspots; especially notable for sipping and socializing are Bluehour, Clyde Common, Departure, Interurban, Irving Street Kitchen, RingSide Steakhouse, Smallwares, and Veritable Quandary.
The best way to experience quite a few of the city's hottest spots is to check out the happy hour menus offered at most Portland bars; these offer excellent deals on both food and drinks. Typically, bars present late-afternoon happy hour deals from about 4 until 6 pm; a smaller number of establishments also offer late-night happy hours from 9 or 10 until typically 11 or midnight.
It’s worth noting that Portland is a bit less of a late-night destination than many cities its size—chalk this up, perhaps, to the local love of the outdoors, as many locals like to set out early on weekend mornings for road trips, hikes, and bike rides. Bars often become quite crowded by late afternoon or early evening, and they tend to peak in popularity—even on weekends—by midnight. You’ll find some exceptions downtown, especially among the handful of warehouse-style dance clubs around Old Town and Chinatown, which pulse well beyond last call (2 am).
Portland’s reputation for high-quality microbreweries rivals that of any city in the country; you’ll find dozens of small breweries around town producing hoppy IPAs (Oregonians tend to favor crisp, aromatic, bitter beers), complex Belgian-inspired saisons, unfiltered farmhouse-style beers, potent barley wines, rich porters, and luscious stouts. Most of them serve food to complement their brews, and several others have food carts parked beside them and encourage patrons to bring food inside from other restaurants to snack while they sip. "Brew theaters," former neighborhood movie houses where patrons enjoy food, suds, and both recent and vintage theatrical releases, are part of the microbrewery phenomenon here . Many are branches of McMenamins, a locally owned chain of quirky bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels, many of them installed in restored historic buildings.
In recent years, a number of artisanal distilleries and boutique wineries have opened in Portland; most have tasting rooms open during weekends and some weekdays, usually during the afternoon and early evening (some are listed as Sights). A wine-tasting rooms stay open late and serve food and other drinks and are listed in Nightlife.
From the preponderance of coffeehouses around town, it may be safe to assume that espresso flows through the veins of Portlanders. Indeed, the city has been at the forefront of the nation’s artisanal coffee-roasting movement. It’s the home of the now nationally renowned Stumptown Coffee as well as a few hundred indie cafés around the city, many serving their own house-roasted beans and others serving Stumptown or other locally favored beans, such as Coava and Water Avenue Coffee. Many Portland coffeehouses close by 6 or 7 at night, but you will find a few late-evening options. Regardless of when you stop in, the social vibe and eclectic crowd is typically similar to those of local bars (a fair share of Portland coffeehouses also serve beer, wine, and even cocktails).
Although Portland has a sizable and highly visible gay community, there’s no LGBT nightlife district per se. For years there were several gay bars in the West End, but all but one of these (Scandal’s) has closed or moved. Old Town and the downtown blocks near it have about a half-dozen gay bars of varying popularity, but this is very much a city where gay and mainstream culture blend together, and many—perhaps most—LGBT Portlanders hang out at the same bars and lounges as everybody else. Especially in hip East Side neighborhoods like Alberta, Mississippi, Hawthorne, and the Central East Side, you’ll typically encounter a mixed gay–straight crowd at most establishments.
Regulars crowd this chatter-filled brewpub to sip well-crafted beers, sit in cozy red booths, and listen to folk, jazz, country, or bluegrass music on its tiny stage. There are pool tables in an adjoining room.
A handsome spot with leather booths and a long central wooden bar, this Central East Side pub carries an eye-opening 99 ales on draft, from local standards to seasonally changing oddballs that delight beer geeks like the Pfriem barley wine and the Crux nitro stout. Hefty burgers, Austrian-style wood-smoked pork sausages, and chili-cheddar-smothered fries are among the delicious pub-food accompaniments.
With a reputation as an after-work eating and drinking hangout among local Portland chefs and restaurant workers, this always-hopping Vietnamese joint offers well-executed cocktails, such as the Single Knight: Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon, pho syrup, Angostura orange bitters, and a Lapsang souchong tea ice cube. The kitchen turns out delicious eats until 11 each night.
With a 7,500-square-foot spring-loaded dance floor built on ball bearings to ramp up the energy, this historic former dance hall draws local, regional, and national acts most nights of the week. Past performers include Sleater-Kinney, Jefferson Airplane, Emmylou Harris, Tame Impala, and Angel Olsen.
Green lanterns glow on the curvy bar of this cool spot where hip patrons sip inventive cocktails, many incorporating fresh fruit, all the creations of renowned mixologist Lucy Brennan. You'll find upscale comfort food in the adjacent dining room.
A lively crowd packs the cool booths at this self-described "big-world diner," an old-school hangout on bar-lined 21st Avenue. Stop in before a movie at Cinema 21 next door for well-poured cocktails, globally inspired small plates, and daily happy hour.
Occupying a cozy two-room space in the middle of peaceful, green Ladd's Addition neighborhood, Palio has delicious desserts and good coffee drinks, and it's open later than most coffeehouses in Portland. Try the Mexican Mocha.
At the northern end of the hip North Mississippi retail and restaurant strip, Prost! is an airy, amber-lit, contemporary bar specializing in old-school German beers like Spaten Lager, Franziskaner Weissbier, and Erdinger Dunkel Weisse. Nosh on Bavarian pretzels and other Euro snacks or venture next door to one of the city's best food-cart pods, Prost! Marketplace. The owners also operate the excellent German pub Stammtisch, on N.E. 28th Avenue.
Located in an odd old Victorian with a few haunted tables (you have to see them to understand), Rimsky-Korsakoffee serves up coffee, tea, and rather decadent desserts.
Sip on beer, port, or single-malt scotch in the cavernous basement of Ringlers Annex, a pie-shaped corner pub in the atmospheric Crystal Hotel, right where Harvey Milk and Burnside streets meet. It's part of the famously offbeat McMenamins brewpub empire.
This diminutive neighborhood spot doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside you'll find a horseshoe-shaped wood bar and spirits connoisseurs devoted to the bar's exceptional, typically tropical fruit cocktails. Half the menu is, as the bar's name more than hints, devoted to rum-based concoctions, including the best daiquiris in town (never too sweet, and made with high-quality, aged spirits).
This low-key bar is the lone remaining LGBTQ+ hangout in the West End, which used to be the city's gay nightlife district (most of the gay bars are now spread around the city). There's a pool table, and light food service noon to closing. The plate-glass windows offer a view of Harvey Milk Street, and there's also popular sidewalk seating.
With its extensive wine list and proximity to Downtown theaters and museums, this wine and cocktail bar is a perfect spot for a post-concert drink, with a notable list of Northwest bottles. Don't miss the sustainably fished seafood and dozen-plus varieties of oysters.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters, which now has locations in several other cities, has three cafés on the east side. At the original site (S.E. Division), organic beans are still roasted on a regular basis. At the Tasting Bar (S.E. Salmon)—adjacent to Stumptown headquarters—patrons can participate in "cuppings," or tastings, at 3 pm each day. Stumptown has other locations around town, including a popular branch inside Downtown's Ace Hotel.
With soft music and the sound of running water in the background, the Tao of Tea serves more than 80 loose-leaf teas as well as vegetarian snacks and sweets. The company also operates the tearoom inside Old Town's Lan Su Chinese Garden.
Order a flight of "crisp" whites or "soft" reds (they're all grouped by sensory descriptors), and maybe a plate of prosciutto-wrapped dates or artichoke-Brie dip from the food menu at this Nob Hill wine bar and bottle shop, located in a pretty, olive-green Victorian house. There's a solid beer and sake selection, too.
One of the original craft-cocktail bars in the Pearl District, Teardrop continues to draw a loyal following for its well-crafted drinks and well-priced happy hour. The bar snacks are tasty, too.
An Alberta go-to specializing in creative drinks (sample the house favorite, the Bye and Bye, a refreshing concoction of peach vodka, peach bourbon, lemon, cranberry juice, and soda served in a Mason jar) and vegan fare, Bye and Bye has a big covered patio and a festive dining room.
Warmed by an open fire pit and a roaring fireplace, and decorated with lots of wood and leather, this cozy campfire-chic spot on Nob Hill's retail strip serves one of the best happy hours in the city, wallet-friendly appetizers made from Oregon-sourced ingredients, and well-crafted cocktails.
In the lobby of a former brothel in lively Hawthorne, the deep-red, candlelit Sapphire Hotel serves cocktails, beer, and wine with an intimate, sultry atmosphere. There's a terrific food menu, too, served late and at bargain prices during happy hour—try the salmon cakes with mustard aioli or the tinned-fish board.
Ready to show off your inner pop diva? Karaoke every night of the week is the main draw at Twenty First Ave. Open until 2:30 am, this dive has dimly lighted booth seating and an expansive garden patio and outdoor bar.
One of the more intimate venues in town to catch live rock, alternative, funk, and other edgy performances, bi-level Valentine's is set along a pedestrian-only stretch of Ankeny Street, just down the block from iconic Voodoo Doughnuts. For a break from the inside action, enjoy your drink at one of the picnic tables out front.
Founded in 1984, this brewery produces more beer than any other in Oregon, including a signature Hefeweizen that's one of the top-selling craft beers in the Northwest. Brewery tours ($5) take place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons (reservations required). There is also a full lunch and dinner menu.
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